The Senate Finance Committee can’t even endorse a modest public option like Chuck Schumer’s. Citing his belief that a public option can’t pass on the Senate floor “at this time,” Finance chairman Max Baucus joined two Democrats and all Republicans in voting down the amendment, which failed 10 to 13.
Joining Baucus on the Democrats’ side of the dais were Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and, by proxy, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) who wasn’t present for the vote.
There will be no public option in the Finance Committee’s health care bill.
So when Conrad and Baucus talk about not having enough votes for the public option, they’re really just projecting. Cowardly, yet not surprising. Senators like Baucus and Harry Reid are not “leaders” of anything. Douchebags? yes. Leaders? Not in any sense of the term.
Agreed. Total Douchebags. I have a question about the public option though. Don’t we already have a public option? They are called Medicaid and Medicare. Most states offer public options as well. Im so tired of this Health Reform debate. It is just a jazzed up effort to get everyone to pay a mandatory premium to the government for their form of health care. There is even talk about penalizing American citizens with fines and up to one year of jail time for not signing up for an insurance policy. That is perhaps the most UnAmerican proposal I have heard in a long long time.
you’re going to have to point to the part of the House bill where jailtime is a possible punishment for the uninsured. I’m not aware of it.
The fact is, people with Medicare are happy with their government health care. Hence all the old people protesting town halls over confused concern for the security of their govt. benefits. I don’t think proponents of govt health care see this as a way to line govt. pockets. While low- middle-class wages remained stagnant over the last decade, insurance premiums skyrocketed and coverage became harder to obtain.
Supporeters of a real public option recognize the drain this has on the country (e.g. the amount of bankruptcies directly related to medical bills of people who HAD “insurance”). If you think the “American” thing to do is give insurance companies free reign to manipulate coverage (maximize profits), and rescind/deny coverage to those who paid or are willing to pay, I have to disagree.
I think the “American” thing would be an attempt to bring the will of the people to fruition. People like the security of Medicare. People want a public option. If the govt. can’t run an efficient, quality program (as the Right always claims), the insurance companies will have nothing to worry about.
Matt, the scariest part of this whole “debate” is that there is no written legislation to refer to as of yet. John Kerry said so himself the other day that noone reads the legal jargon anyways. But, here is a reference to the jail time:
http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/max/obamacare-no-insurance-go-to-jail
Sure people are happy with Medicare and Medicaid. The problem does not lie in the service, but the fact that the system is bankrupt, unfundable, unsustainable, etc. The unfunded social liabilities in this country over the next 20 years is something like 43 TRILLION dollars (thanks to medicare)!! Bush really severed his ties with true conservatives with this bill. These unfunded liabilities do not include the current proposed health care reform. Let me ask you, how are we going to pay for this with the social security unbalance, rising unemployment, lower tax revenues, the wars, welfare, etc
Lastly, health insurance is considered a service. A proposed mandate by the government to force its citizenry to purchase a good or service is completely unprecedented. We are not talking about Swedish style health care right now. Their health care is a right since it is funded by income tax and health care is enjoyed by every citizen, whereas here the dems are proposing for the premium to be paid out of pocket by everyone.
Have you noticed that the actual price per person has not been mentioned once in this debate? Some estimates say that these new insurance premiums could cost between $5,000 and $12,000 annually per household!!
No thanks! If I get sick, I’ll head down to Costa Rica and pay for my health care in the good old fashioned free market.
You can have Dick Armey’s speculative #s. fraud.